Arafat Research Paper

Arafat is well known for his relentless leadership of Palestine and the fight for Palestinian statehood. He served as the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority for a majority of his life. On November 11, 2004, Yasser Arafat passed away in a Parisian hospital of mysterious circumstances. His death became a major topic of discussion as he died one month following a standoff in Ramallah. Initially, no autopsy was conducted and no medical officials paid attention to the circumstances behind Arafat’s death. It was stated the cause of death was a stroke. However, nine years later, his wife, Suha Arafat, called for an exhumation of Arafat’s remains following the discovery of a radioactive isotope on Arafat’s

It emits a form of radiation known as alpha radiation. Alpha radiation cannot penetrate human skin, making it harmless. However, if a substance that emits alpha radiation is consumed or inhaled in a high amount, there will be significant side effects, such as organ failure. Additionally, polonium-210 has a half-life of only 138 days (in the human body, due to metabolic processes, the half-life in decreased to 50 days). This means every 50 days, the amount would half. Furthermore, due to the half-life of polonium-210, the amount of the isotope would have been greater at Arafat’s time of death versus the exhumation in 2012. According to an interview conducted by BBC, large nuclear reactors and sophisticated labs would be needed to produce weaponized polonium-210. John Large, a nuclear scientist, stated that nuclear facilities that construct weaponized polonium-210 are based in more developed countries such as Britain, the United States of America, and Israel. It is a well-known fact that Israel “has a long record of carrying out political assassinations”. However, many believed that Israel may not have been the only potential culprit -- Suha Arafat stated that her husband had “a lot of enemies around the

They were justified in this belief as there were many plans created to eliminate Arafat. In 2001, a plan was created by Israel. It was known as the Dagan Plan, or “Operation Justified Vengeance”. It was named after the Mossad leader, General Meir Dagan. The plan called for a series of suicide bombings plotted by Israeli Defense Force and Mossad under the government of Ariel Sharon. Among the expected victims of hundreds of Israelis and thousands of Palestinians was Yasser Arafat. The aim of the plan was to ensure that Arafat would no longer be in power. Representatives of the Sharon government stated that the reasons for the Dagan Plan were “One, Arafat is a murderer, and one doesn’t negotiate with a murderer. Two, the Oslo Accord is the greatest evil that has ever fallen upon Israel, and everything should be done to destroy it”. The Oslo Accords were a threat to Israel as it granted permission for the coexistence of a Palestinian state and Israeli state. The agreement was drafted by the Clinton government of the United States following the First Intifada which occurred from 1987 to 1993 and was set to be in motion by